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\fl&&
Vol. 3Ctw..1
'jUunei % SJaciA
SeptemBex 20C7
The priest shortage is hurting the
Church all over the world, and the situation
promises to get worse. For example, Brazil,
the most populous Catholic country on earth,
has about 17,000 priests serving more than
50,000 parishes. Lay persons lead 80% of the
Sunday services. In the last 15 years, the
Catholic population of Brazil has dropped from
83% to 68% while Pentecostals have grown
from 9 to 24%. In the United States,
approximately 3,400 out of 18,600 parishes are
without a resident pastor. All over the
country, parishes are being closed, some of
which were viable faith communities. In the
diocese of Toledo, we recently closed or merged
over 25 parishes. These displaced parishioners
put a human face on these disturbing
statistics. Some are angry and hurt, while
others speak of a profound sense of grief over
losing a treasured spiritual home.
Independent researcher Joseph Claude
Harris projects that the number of active
diocesan priests in the USA will drop from
19,290 in 2005 to an estimated 16,990 by 2010.
If this 12% decline actually occurs and the
Catholic population continues to increase as
projected, we can anticipate more parish
closings and fewer parishes with a resident
pastor.
Historically, Catholics in the United
States have held their parishes in high esteem.
The 30 million Catholic immigrants who came
to this country between 1820 and 1920 made
enormous sacrifices to establish a remarkable
network of parishes that helped them
safeguard and hand on their faith in an often
hostile environment. Typically, they pooled
their meager financial resources to buy land,
build churches, hire pastors and form parishes
that functioned as the spiritual and social
center of their lives. This tradition was carried
on by the Catholics who fought in World War II
and went to college with the help of the GI Bill.
When they moved to the suburbs, they
established new parishes that served their
spiritual needs. Post-Vatican II Catholics who
have appropriated the conciliar teaching on the
role of the laity value their parishes as
communities of faith for which they are
co-responsible. Large numbers of mobile
Catholics today search out parishes that meet
their spiritual needs and provide opportunities
to serve others.
It is in the ordinary activities of parish
life, including social outreach, formation
programs and especially the Sunday liturgies,
that Catholics come to know the Church as the
Body of Christ and the pilgrim people of God.
As the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner insisted,
the church is both an institution and an event.
It has a hierarchical structure and it actualizes
itself as Christians gather for worship and
service. As event, the parish is the highest
actualization of the universal church. Ideally,
parishes are to be a credible sign and effective
instrument of God's reign in the world. Actual
parishes are always a mix of grace and sin.
Catholics complain about a variety of things:
poor music and preaching; lack of financial
transparency; pastoral indifference; parish
cliques; and inadequate religious education.
Despite these criticisms, a substantial majority
of Catholics report that their parish meets
their spiritual needs completely or very well.
The network of parishes with resident pastors
established by dedicated immigrants adapted
remarkably well over the years as a growing
number of Catholics moved into the
mainstream of American life. Now, the priest
shortage is creating a new set of problems and
making it more difficult to meet the needs of a
growing Catholic population that includes new
immigrants. In many dioceses, one priest
serves two or more parishes and a growing

\fl&&
Vol. 3Ctw..1
'jUunei % SJaciA
SeptemBex 20C7
The priest shortage is hurting the
Church all over the world, and the situation
promises to get worse. For example, Brazil,
the most populous Catholic country on earth,
has about 17,000 priests serving more than
50,000 parishes. Lay persons lead 80% of the
Sunday services. In the last 15 years, the
Catholic population of Brazil has dropped from
83% to 68% while Pentecostals have grown
from 9 to 24%. In the United States,
approximately 3,400 out of 18,600 parishes are
without a resident pastor. All over the
country, parishes are being closed, some of
which were viable faith communities. In the
diocese of Toledo, we recently closed or merged
over 25 parishes. These displaced parishioners
put a human face on these disturbing
statistics. Some are angry and hurt, while
others speak of a profound sense of grief over
losing a treasured spiritual home.
Independent researcher Joseph Claude
Harris projects that the number of active
diocesan priests in the USA will drop from
19,290 in 2005 to an estimated 16,990 by 2010.
If this 12% decline actually occurs and the
Catholic population continues to increase as
projected, we can anticipate more parish
closings and fewer parishes with a resident
pastor.
Historically, Catholics in the United
States have held their parishes in high esteem.
The 30 million Catholic immigrants who came
to this country between 1820 and 1920 made
enormous sacrifices to establish a remarkable
network of parishes that helped them
safeguard and hand on their faith in an often
hostile environment. Typically, they pooled
their meager financial resources to buy land,
build churches, hire pastors and form parishes
that functioned as the spiritual and social
center of their lives. This tradition was carried
on by the Catholics who fought in World War II
and went to college with the help of the GI Bill.
When they moved to the suburbs, they
established new parishes that served their
spiritual needs. Post-Vatican II Catholics who
have appropriated the conciliar teaching on the
role of the laity value their parishes as
communities of faith for which they are
co-responsible. Large numbers of mobile
Catholics today search out parishes that meet
their spiritual needs and provide opportunities
to serve others.
It is in the ordinary activities of parish
life, including social outreach, formation
programs and especially the Sunday liturgies,
that Catholics come to know the Church as the
Body of Christ and the pilgrim people of God.
As the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner insisted,
the church is both an institution and an event.
It has a hierarchical structure and it actualizes
itself as Christians gather for worship and
service. As event, the parish is the highest
actualization of the universal church. Ideally,
parishes are to be a credible sign and effective
instrument of God's reign in the world. Actual
parishes are always a mix of grace and sin.
Catholics complain about a variety of things:
poor music and preaching; lack of financial
transparency; pastoral indifference; parish
cliques; and inadequate religious education.
Despite these criticisms, a substantial majority
of Catholics report that their parish meets
their spiritual needs completely or very well.
The network of parishes with resident pastors
established by dedicated immigrants adapted
remarkably well over the years as a growing
number of Catholics moved into the
mainstream of American life. Now, the priest
shortage is creating a new set of problems and
making it more difficult to meet the needs of a
growing Catholic population that includes new
immigrants. In many dioceses, one priest
serves two or more parishes and a growing